NEW ORLEANS, US: An elderly woman was killed and two males wounded when an argument between two females erupted into gunfire Tuesday at a university campus after a high school graduation there, New Orleans police said.
The males received wounds that were not life-threatening — one hit in a shoulder, the other in a leg, authorities told news outlets.
The gunfire occurred near the Xavier University of Louisiana Convocation Center, where Morris Jeff Community School held its high school graduation Tuesday morning.
Deputy Superintendent Chris Goodly told reporters he did not know whether the people who fought in the parking lot were the ones who pulled guns, or how many guns or bullets were fired.
Three people were being questioned, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards noted that the shooting came two weeks after four people were wounded in a shooting outside another high school graduation at Southeastern Louisiana University.
“Those who perpetuate these senseless acts of violence will be brought to justice,” Edwards said. “We must do more to keep our communities safe, and this means we must do more to ensure that those who pose an unacceptable risk of harm to others aren’t able to acquire or keep firearms.
“In light of recent gun violence in Buffalo and Uvalde, gun safety discussions and action involving expanded background checks and red flag laws are very much in order.”
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“Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am (0400 GMT),” the force said.
The graffiti, which workers were cleaning early Friday, called the wartime leader a “Zionist war criminal.”
The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office called the damage “completely abhorrent” and said it was “glad” police had made an arrest.
“Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said. “This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”
- Pre-recorded message -
A Dutch activist, naming himself as Olax Outis, claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.
“If you see this message that peaceful protest has begun... it’s a reasonable assumption that I’m currently in a jail, somewhere in London,” the pre-recorded message said.
Outis said he was a member of Dutch group “Free the Filton 24 NL,” a group supporting the 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a break-in at a UK factory belonging to Israeli defense firm Elbit in 2024.
The group posted a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in overalls, with “I support Palestine Action” written on the back, painting the statue.
Other slogans painted onto the statue included “globalize the intifada.”
In December, police said people chanting this phrase would be arrested as part of efforts to counter antisemitism and incitement to violence through slogans.
The police stance followed a deadly October attack on a synagogue in the English city of Manchester, and a December shooting at a Jewish festival at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney in which 15 people were killed.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
The 3.6 meter (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalized a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.
Shooting kills 1, wounds 2 after HS graduation at university in New Orleans
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Shooting kills 1, wounds 2 after HS graduation at university in New Orleans
- The gunfire occurred near the Xavier University of Louisiana Convocation Center, where Morris Jeff Community School held its high school graduation Tuesday morning
UK police arrest man after Churchill statue sprayed with graffiti
- The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue
- The man detained was also held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action
LONDON: A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, UK police said Friday, after pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on a Winston Churchill statue in central London.
The iconic monument to the World War II British prime minister in Parliament Square “was graffitied with red paint” overnight, the Metropolitan Police said on X.
“Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am (0400 GMT),” the force said.
The graffiti, which workers were cleaning early Friday, called the wartime leader a “Zionist war criminal.”
The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue.
The man detained was also held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed organization under the Terrorism Act, police added.
The Greater London Authority condemned the “vandalism” and said work was underway to remove the graffiti “as quickly as possible.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office called the damage “completely abhorrent” and said it was “glad” police had made an arrest.
“Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said. “This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”
- Pre-recorded message -
A Dutch activist, naming himself as Olax Outis, claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.
“If you see this message that peaceful protest has begun... it’s a reasonable assumption that I’m currently in a jail, somewhere in London,” the pre-recorded message said.
Outis said he was a member of Dutch group “Free the Filton 24 NL,” a group supporting the 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a break-in at a UK factory belonging to Israeli defense firm Elbit in 2024.
The group posted a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in overalls, with “I support Palestine Action” written on the back, painting the statue.
Other slogans painted onto the statue included “globalize the intifada.”
In December, police said people chanting this phrase would be arrested as part of efforts to counter antisemitism and incitement to violence through slogans.
The police stance followed a deadly October attack on a synagogue in the English city of Manchester, and a December shooting at a Jewish festival at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney in which 15 people were killed.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
The 3.6 meter (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalized a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.
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